Q 01/05

Almost all of Earth's weather happens in which layer of the atmosphere?

A) Stratosphere

B) Troposphere

C) Mesosphere

D) Thermosphere

Answer · why

B) Troposphere

The troposphere holds about 80% of the air's mass and almost all its water vapour, which is why clouds and storms form there.

Q 02/05

Contrary to the classic drawing, large falling raindrops are shaped most like what?

A) Teardrops

B) Perfect spheres

C) Rugby balls

D) Hamburger buns

Answer · why

D) Hamburger buns

Hamburger buns: oncoming air flattens a growing drop's underside, and drops much bigger than 9 mm across break apart into smaller ones.

Q 03/05

Which place in India reportedly has the highest average annual rainfall on Earth?

A) Cherrapunji

B) Shillong

C) Darjeeling

D) Mawsynram

Answer · why

D) Mawsynram

Mawsynram reportedly gets nearly 12 metres of rain a year, though Colombian towns dispute the title; in the damp valleys below, villagers grow bridges...

Q 04/05

The 1993 film Groundhog Day is set at the ceremony of which real weather-forecasting groundhog?

A) Staten Island Chuck

B) Punxsutawney Phil

C) Wiarton Willie

D) General Beauregard Lee

Answer · why

B) Punxsutawney Phil

Punxsutawney Phil has made his forecast in Pennsylvania since 1887, yet checks against real temperatures find him wrong more often than right.

Q 05/05

Which desert is the driest non-polar desert in the world?

A) Kalahari

B) Gobi

C) Namib

D) Atacama

Answer · why

D) Atacama

The Atacama sits between the Andes and Chile's Coast Range, which block rain clouds from both east and west, creating a two-sided rain shadow.